


Lifesaver

by Dreamin



Series: Fictober 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers Tower, Established Relationship, F/M, Loki being the perfect boyfriend, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Stephen Strange mentioned - Freeform, at least he thinks so, foot injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 09:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20794670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/pseuds/Dreamin
Summary: After Darcy is injured during their date, Loki saves the day.





	Lifesaver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/gifts).

> Inspired by the Fictober 2019 prompt afteriwake sent me -- “Now? Now you listen to me?”
> 
> Also inspired by me recently breaking my foot the same way Darcy did (the only difference was the kind of shoe I wore).

Fall was Darcy’s favorite season and walking through Central Park with her new boyfriend was her favorite way to enjoy it. She and Loki were barely into their romantic relationship, having spent the summer dancing around each other after he helped the Avengers defeat Thanos. At first, Darcy wasn’t sure if she could trust the trickster god and Loki, by his own admission, had a hard time opening up to anyone besides Thor.

Eventually, and with a little help from their nearest and dearest, they put aside their insecurities and took the plunge. Their first date had been two weeks ago and Darcy could honestly say she’d never been happier. Loki was everything she ever wanted in a boyfriend – attentive, funny, well-mannered, passionate, and genuinely interested in her, her opinions, and what she wanted.

_Such a nice change of pace from the usual losers,_ she thought as they walked hand-in-hand under the canopy of trees. His longer legs meant that he had to shorten his stride to keep pace with her but he never complained. _He doesn’t complain about much of anything, actually. Hmm._

“Loki, are you- OW!”

Focusing on her boyfriend instead of the path had her tripping on a stick in shoes that were more pretty than practical. The side of her foot rolled underneath her and she could feel something in her foot move in an unnatural way as pain shot through it. Tears welled in her eyes and she nearly fell over but she steadied herself at the last moment.

“What in Odin’s name did you do to yourself?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m sure I just rolled my ankle or something,” she answered. “It’s happened before.” _But that time, the pain wasn’t this bad…_

“You need a healer.”

“I just need to rest it, I’ll be fine,” she said as she limped over to a nearby bench.

Loki rolled his eyes as he followed her. “I know stubbornness in inherent in all humans but your level exceeds that of most.”

She would’ve stuck her tongue out at him but the pain was getting worse and her ankle boot started to feel really tight. Trying to take it off made her gasp in pain.

“Allow me,” Loki murmured as he knelt in front of her. Once he had her ankle boot and Halloween-themed sock removed, she could see that her foot was already swollen.

“That’ll never do,” he murmured, half to himself. Gently holding her ankle in one hand and her foot in the other, he spared her face the briefest glance before putting his full focus on her foot.

Until that moment, Darcy had never seen anything of Loki’s Jotun nature, so she watched, fascinated, as the tips of his fingers turned Frost Giant blue and cold seeped into her injured foot. She instinctively tried to jerk her foot away but Loki’s grip was as firm as it was gentle.

“Be still a moment, Darcy Lynn,” he murmured, more than a little annoyed as he kept his eyes on her foot.

“Er, yeah, could you maybe forget I told you my middle name?”

He looked up at her, an amused and tender smile lighting his face. “I quite like it, actually. It suits you.”

“Um, thanks,” she muttered, feeling heat rise in her face.

“You’re welcome.” Once he finished the cold therapy, he sat back on his haunches, watching her.

Darcy sighed overdramatically. “Okay, fine, I need a doctor.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Now you listen to me?”

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” she said, smiling weakly.

He rolled his eyes. “You also need proper footwear.”

“I like my boots,” Darcy protested, unable to help a pout.

Loki chuckled. “For the sake of both of our dignities, I’m not carrying you all the way back to Avengers Tower.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text.

“Who are you texting?”

“The fraud who calls himself a sorcerer.”

Despite her pain, which was getting worse by the minute, Darcy couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “Strange isn’t a fraud.” From what she’d been told, Loki and Stephen’s rivalry started when they met and was still going strong.

One of Stephen’s portals opened a few feet away and he stepped through it, asking questions that included a lot of medical technobabble that went over Darcy’s head. Loki’s answers were a lot more coherent than hers would have been. He scooped her up again, just as effortlessly as before, and followed Stephen through the portal, which led to the hospital floor of Avengers Tower.

After a nurse took her vital signs, she was put into a wheelchair and taken to get x-rays done. Despite the pain, Darcy couldn’t help laughing when Loki pouted after being denied entry into the x-ray room with her.

Finally, after three x-rays and a doctor telling her she’d fractured her fifth metatarsal, she was given an “ugly” black orthopedic boot with Velcro straps, orders to keep her foot elevated, and directions for using over-the-counter painkillers, she was allowed to leave. Her foot hurt too much to put weight on so Loki insisted on carrying her to her apartment on the floor she shared with Jane.

Once Darcy was settled on the couch in the living room with a blanket covering her lower half and the best mindless documentaries Netflix had to offer on the TV, Loki gave her a pint of Chocolate Therapy, a spoon, a glass of water, and the highest dosage of painkillers she could take before he headed for her bedroom.

Not knowing what her boyfriend wanted in there since he hadn’t been in there before and, honestly, afraid to ask, she started a documentary then opened the pint and took the first bite. She looked up when he came back into the room, holding an armload of her shoes.

Darcy raised an eyebrow. “They won’t fit, your feet are a lot bigger than mine.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “All of them are impractical, some downright dangerous. I’m amazed you haven’t managed to injure yourself in them before now.”

“And you’re going to do what with them?”

“Incinerate them, of course.”

“Uh, no. Put them back. I’ll wear better shoes the next time we’re out walking but I’m not giving up my entire shoe collection.”

Loki smiled a bit. “I did leave one pair of trainers.” The shoes vanished and he came to sit at the other end of the couch then gently pulled her feet into his lap. At her questioning look, he said, “You need to elevate them.”

That’s when she noticed he had magically changed into a pair of lounge pants and a t-shirt, both black. She rolled her eyes to cover how touched she was that he was staying with her for at least a while. “There are other colors than black, you know.”

“I look best in black.”

“Uh huh.” She watched the documentary silently for a moment then she looked at him.

He kept his eyes on the screen but he smiled a bit. “Yes?”

“Thank you,” she murmured. “It wasn’t a life-threatening injury but you’re still a lifesaver.”

Loki turned to her, his smile softening. “I merely did what any proper suitor would do for the object of his affection.”

Darcy couldn’t help grinning. “In other words, you were just being the perfect boyfriend.”

His smile turned smug. “Aren’t I always?”

In response, she lightly threw a pillow at him. He caught it before it could hit him then he gently slid it under her feet. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

His tender gaze made her relent and she smiled. “Okay, fine, it’s a yes.”

Loki grinned at her. “You are, of course, the perfect girlfriend.”

Darcy grinned at him. “Even when I’m stubborn as hell?”

“Especially when you’re stubborn as hell.”

She giggled. “You must really be smitten.”

“I am,” he murmured, completely serious.

Darcy got lost in his eyes for a moment then she grinned. “Good, ‘cause so am I.”


End file.
